The battlefield had fallen silent.
Helios and Skuld stood amidst the empty field after vanquishing all the Heartless, their breaths heavy, their bodies still humming with the aftereffects of battle.
Skuld tightened her grip around her Keyblade, her light pulsing faintly around her. "It feels like we should be safe now…"
Helios, however, wasn't convinced. That feeling of being watched hadn't faded.
If anything—it had intensified.
His fingers curled around Equilibrium as his instincts screamed at him to stay on guard.
Kurai's voice sounded calm. "You better get ready they're here."
And then—the shadows moved.
A sickening, twisting noise filled the air, like hundreds of tiny claws scraping against stone. The darkness itself began to coil and rise, a massive spiraling vortex forming from the very ground.
A horrid, writhing mass of Shadow Heartless took shape, twisting into a monstrous tornado of darkness.
Its sheer presence sent waves of unease rolling through the air, its inky black form shifting and distorting as hundreds of glowing yellow eyes stared at them from within.
Helios felt Skuld stiffen beside him.
She whispered, "What… is that?"
Helios' expression darkened. "A Demon Tower."
The massive entity lurched forward, twisting its body in an unnatural motion before suddenly springing up into the sky.
Then, it lunged.
Helios teleported away instantly, reappearing just out of reach. Skuld followed suit, vanishing in a flash of light, appearing high above the battlefield.
The Demon Tower slammed into the ground where they had just been standing, sending cracks spider-webbing across the terrain.
Then, without pause, it began to shift again.
With an eerie, fluid motion, the writhing mass scattered apart, the individual Shadows dispersing into the darkness before instantly reforming right at Helios' feet.
It was adapting. Studying.
It knew teleportation wouldn't work.
Helios cursed, barely warping away in time as the monstrous entity struck upward, its entire body twisting into a massive spear of darkness.
"Skuld!" he called. "We have to change how we fight! This thing has adjusted to our movements! It knows how we fight!"
Skuld landed a few feet away, her Keyblade shining with light. "Then let's give it something new to learn!"
She shot forward, her speed amplified by light. Instead of attacking head-on, she zig-zagged unpredictably, vanishing and reappearing at random.
Helios followed suit, altering his teleportation pattern, mixing in fake-outs to throw the Demon Tower off.
The mass of Shadows twitched, confused for the first time.
And that's when they struck.
Helios slashed downward, sending a streak of dark-enhanced ice into the Demon Tower's form.
At the same time, Skuld twisted midair, hurling a barrage of light-infused Strike Raids straight into the writhing mass.
For the first time, the Demon Tower howled as it writhed in pain.
But before they could press their advantage, the ground trembled beneath them.
A deep rumbling filled the air as Pride Rock began to shake.
The battle had weakened the decayed world, and now it was falling apart.
Large chunks of stone crumbled from the cliffs, and the land beneath them began to split, massive cracks forming like veins.
Skuld barely dodged a massive boulder as it crashed to the ground beside her. "Helios! The whole place is coming down!"
Helios' eyes darted around. The terrain was against them now.
And the Demon Tower wasn't stopping.
If anything, it was growing stronger.
Its body twisted again, and this time—it released dozens of individual Shadows.
The creatures rushed toward them, leaping from collapsing platforms, using the falling debris as cover.
Skuld reacted first, vanishing in a flash of light, warping between the falling rocks to strike down the advancing Heartless.
Helios, meanwhile, used the shifting terrain to his advantage—manipulating the falling debris to launch himself across the battlefield, striking at the Demon Tower's form in quick, brutal slashes.
The Heartless howled in frustration as their unpredictability countered its ability to learn.
It struck again, twisting its body and ramming forward in a spinning attack.
Helios slid under it at the last second, his Keyblade dragging across the ground before he leapt into a counterstrike.
His blade carved through its form, sending black mist spiraling into the air.
Skuld followed up—a final burst of light slamming into the entity's core.
The Demon Tower let out a deafening screech.
For a moment, it writhed in place, its form flickering.
Helios narrowed his eyes. They were winning but something didn't feel right.
Instead of lashing out in desperation, the Demon Tower began to retreat. It didn't collapse like the other Heartless nor did it fade into the darkness. The countless Shadows merged into the darkness and fled leaving the core.
The core then pulled back, shrinking its form one last time before sinking into the shadows and vanishing completely.
Skuld landed beside Helios, breathing heavily. "What the—why did it run?"
Helios gritted his teeth. "Because it wasn't trying to win."
She turned to him, confused. "What?"
He exhaled, his grip tightening around his Keyblade. "It wasn't fighting to kill us. It was testing us for whatever sent it."
A cold realization settled over Skuld.
This wasn't just a Heartless.
It was a scout.
Something stronger was waiting in the darkness.
Watching.
Waiting.
As silence settled over the battlefield, Skuld suddenly gasped.
Helios turned sharply. "What is it?"
Skuld clutched her chest, her Keyblade pulsing with light. "Something… something's pulling me forward."
Helios frowned. "What do you mean?"
She looked at him, her expression torn between confusion and certainty. "I can feel it. The connection. It's faint, but it's there."
Helios studied her carefully.
Her light had grown significantly since they entered this realm.
Maybe…
Maybe her heart really could lead them to Aqua by tracing the connection from Ventus. Helios thought it was a long shot but it seemed it really worked. "Then we follow it. I believe we'll find Aqua on the other side of this feeling. Remember may your heart be your guiding key."
Skuld took a deep breath, steadying herself.
Then—she stepped forward.
Helios followed, fully aware that the creatures of darkness were still watching. Waiting for their next opportunity.